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Pakistan's YouTube block is lifted - great news!

Pakistan’s YouTube block has finally been lifted after a ban lasting more than 3 years!

Pakistan’s YouTube block was imposed by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on 17 September 2012 after YouTube failed to remove the anti-Islam movie “Innocence of Muslims”, which caused violent protests in the country and outraged the Islamic world.

Pakistan's YouTube block reeeeaaally overstayed its welcome

Pakistan’s YouTube block was supposed to be temporary, but many Pakistanis felt the ban was prolonged due to a number of religious groups condemning the site as ‘blasphemous’.

Many voiced their frustrations through different means, including KholoBC (a youth initiative), who launched a Twitter campaign and published videos against state censorship in Pakistan.

Ah, but there's a catch

According to media sources, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), has ordered all ISPs to lift Pakistan’s YouTube block, with the caveat that the PTA can request that any additional ‘offending material’ be blocked.

The ministry said: "On the recommendation of PTA, Government of Pakistan has allowed access to recently launched country version of YouTube for Internet users in Pakistan...Google has provided an online web process through which requests for blocking access of the offending material can be made by PTA to Google directly and Google/YouTube will accordingly restrict access to the said offending material for users within Pakistan."

YouTube has more than a billion users - “almost one-third of all people on the Internet” - and according to YouTube’s CEO Susan Wojcicki, over 400 hours of video is uploaded to the site every minute. The video streaming site has launched local versions in more than 70 countries, including Pakistan.

While Pakistan's YouTube block has been removed, a number of countries continue to block YouTube including China, North Korea and Iran.

We at HMA! are delighted to hear Pakistan’s YouTube block has finally been removed, allowing people to access the video streaming site once again.

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